The iconic Hard Rock is back at Glorietta 3 in Makati where it all started, bringing back memories of our yuppie party days. With new global menu options, it’s a great place for live musical entertainment in the Ayala Center area.
Here’s what to expect at Hard Rock Cafe Makati.
First Things First
Hard Rock Makati has access from the ground floor, and lava stairs bring you to the second floor entertainment area.
10X Opportunities for 2020 and Beyond by Nikki Yu, @facelesstrader
There are 5.5 billion people on earth, 5 billion of which have a phone, of which 4 billion have a smart phone. We connected everyone. This has huge fundamental implications on how businesses have changed forever. With instant connection, we have enabled the following giants—Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Huawei, Samsung, Tencent, Alibaba and Google—to monopolize and effectively corner people into their daily lives.
Don’t miss out on the 10X Opportunities for the new decade and beyond: Ecommerce, Streaming Platforms – New Entertainment, eSports Industry, Mobile Payments, Social Media and New Forms of Digital Advertising; Enterprise Software, Cloud Computing, 5G, D2C, Food Delivery, Ride Hailing, Millennials and Generation Z: Screenagers and Instagrannies; Robotics, AI and Automation; O-M-O; Online Merge Offline Education; Work from Home; Alternative Meat; International Expansion; Globalization; Athleisure and Vanity; Self Driving Cars; Clean Renewable Energy; Crazy Rich Asians—China, India and Southeast Asia.
E-commerce continues to grow >30 percent
US ecommerce sales is so big, hitting over 500 billion dollars from less than 5B dollars just 20 years ago. However, this is still just 15% of the total addressable retail market of 3.6 trillion dollars even in year 2019. More importantly, if we took a look at the ecommerce penetration rates in China and the UK or even in South Korea, their penetration rates are ahead of America, but still all of them are less than 25%. Brazil and India have largely been left untapped with only 5% penetration rates. Southeast Asia is even lower at 1% penetration rate.
While we’ve expanded the definition of retail from books and commodities to anything online, we’ve learned to rely on several platforms in order to sell things from Shopify powered marketplaces to Instagram, Etsy and Mercado Libre. The list goes on. Applications have varied from auction places such as Ebay to OLX, targeting different markets for different geographies. Pinterest attracts plenty of women who are looking for makeup, cookies, recipes, home decor and so forth.
On February 22, 2020, Chef Ed Bugia of Pino/Pipino and Mimi & Bros fame married Trixie Esquerra in Montecito, Nuvali in the much anticipated wedding of 2020.
When a chef gets married, the foodie community gets excited about the wedding feast, and here’s how it tasted like…
Kondwi is a two-level art space/cocktail lounge in Poblacion by artist Leeroy New and restaurateur Marvin Agustin. As its name—which means “conduit”—suggests, it’s designed to provide a fluid space where creatives, artists and passionate people can connect.
Here are tips for an awesome experience at the latest creative hangout place in Poblacion this 2020…
Genting Dream is the first ever Asian luxury cruise line created by Genting Hong Kong that debuted in November of 2016. It has a passenger capacity of 3,352, specializing in Southeast Asian destinations.
We celebrated Rache’s birthday onboard a 5-day Genting Dream Cruise from Singapore to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Here is our guide to make your cruise celebration awesome…
What to Bring?
Travel Essentials
• Passport (and photocopy of your passport’s bio page) • Visa (no need for Southeast Asian destinations) • Return Airfare Ticket • Cruise Ticket and travel details • Big hard luggage for clothes and a carry-on bag for gadgets and backup clothes • Fly-Cruise Transfer Service Luggage Tag
• Default currency—Singapore Dollars (SGD), the currency where the cruise departed
• Credit Card for easy transaction onboard
Personal Stuff
• Rubber shoes/sporty slippers and smart casual shoes
• Comfortable clothes, smart casual attires following dress codes and IG outfits for destination shoots • Stuff for your personal regimen (No need to bring the usual toiletries because these are provided)
• Watch using the boat time which is Singapore time, the time of the originating destination
• Mobile phone/camera to take lots of videos, photos and selfies throughout the trip
• Downloaded Dream Cruise Mobile App for information about the cruise and wifi access
Note: Budget SGD29/day for premium wifi (good for two devices) x number of cruise days.
The 27th Travel Tour Expo 2020, organized by the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), is the largest gathering of tourism agencies and stakeholders in the country held every February. It’s the biggest ever with 400+ exhibitors across different travel categories—operators, travel agencies, cruise liners, hotels, resorts, airline and insurance companies.
But going to the fair can be daunting with the long lines and can be confusing on what travel deals to buy.
So here are some expo hacks to help you navigate your way around and focus on the important destination deals…
The Apartments at El Nido (AptElNido for short) is an apartment complex located at the center of El Nido town with 10 well appointed apartments, a total capacity of 48 people and 3+ designated speed boats for island hopping.
This is the best experience for the family where you feel like a local living in your own apartment in town. The best part is that you have a private speed boat service to take you around the islands, minus the tourists, and the #AptElNido team creating the best island picnic experience for your family.
Highly recommended! Here’s our The Apartments at El Nido experience…
First Things First
The 10-room apartment is designed with 3 building clusters, eight (8) apartments having two queen size beds for a maximum capacity for 4 people and two (2) apartments with two rooms for a maximum capacity of 8.
CANGREJOS LOCOS is the best NEW Spanish restaurant concept in Alabang by a powerhouse collaboration among Chef Robby Goco x Manny Torrejon x Raymund Magduyo of the Red Crab Group, featuring the best crabs in Manila and the 12-minute cooked Barcelona-style paella.
It’s another winning and fun Spanish concept by Chef Robby Goco, and the perfect place to celebrate our son Aidan’s 15th birthday is the best new Spanish restaurant in Alabang!
Here’s how to get crazy at Cangrejos Locos…
CANGREJOS LOCOS
Molito Lifestyle Center, Muntinlupa City Operating Hours: 11.00 am – 3.00 pm, 5.00pm – 11.00pm Facebook: Cangrejos Locos Instagram: @cangrejoslocosmnl
Francesco’s is an Italian Restaurant by Chef Francesco Rizzo (chef of the former Paparazzi in Edsa Shangri-La) that serves traditional regional cuisine—from brick oven pizzas, to home made pastas, to ossobucos, to Italian desserts. 🙂
With the success of their flagship branch on Mabini St., San Juan, they finally opened Francesco’s in BGC to provide authentic Italian food to its professionals and food enthusiasts.
Here’s what we think of Francesco’s BGC…
The Best of New Italian Restaurants in Manila (2020):
Yamazato, founded in Hotel Okura Tokyo in 1962, is a Japanese fine dining restaurant specializing in kaiseki and teppanyaki experiences at the Resorts World Manila complex.
Yamazato comes from its two Kanji characters 山 “yama” meaning “mountain” plus 里 “zato” meaning “village,” signifying the highest quality of Japanese food in Manila with focus on fresh produce and prime seafood from Japan.
We celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary with the family with an intimate kaiseki meal.
Here are some tips for your next awesome Yamazato experience in Manila…
YAMAZATO MANILA
Address: 2nd Floor, Hotel Okura Manila, 2 Portwood Street, Newport City, Pasay City 1309 Metro Manila, Philippines Operating Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Tuesdays to Sundays)
Dinner: 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (Tuesdays to Sundays) Telephone: +632 5318 2888 Facebook: Hotel Okura Manila Instagram: @hotelokuramnl Website: https://www.hotelokuramanila.com/culinary/yamazato
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